James Hutchinson
The company building the national broadband network has handed a second contract to Transfield Services to roll out fibre cables, as NBN Co struggles to meet crucial construction targets.
Transfield, which already has a contract for network construction in Victoria, will begin rolling out fibre in Sydney as part of a deal worth up to $300 million over four years.
Thiess-Siemens joint venture Silcar is already the prime contractor for New South Wales under a two-year contract signed in 2011. NBN Co has also recently awarded extra work to Downer EDI and Leighton Holdings subsidiary Visionstream to boost the rollout in the state.
“This is a great opportunity for Transfield Services to continue to be part of one of Australia’s most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken,” Transfield Services chief executive Graeme Hunt said in a statement.
It is the third of several secondary contracts expected to be awarded this year to construction firms in a bid to speed up the network rollout. NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley last week confirmed the roll-out was running three months behind, forcing the company to downgrade its forecast from 286,000 existing homes to between 155,000 and 175,000 completed by June 30 this year.
However, the NSW rollout is considered by construction industry sources as one of the more successful aspects of the rollout, particularly when compared to work completed so far by Lend Lease-Service Stream joint venture Syntheo in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
NBN Co last week took direct control of the rollout in the Northern Territory, terminating part of its contract with Syntheo, in an attempt to speed up construction in the area.
The Australian Financial Review
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